The social media network X has caused major backlash after users used its AI chatbot Grok to alter pictures of women by taking off their attire.
Several examples have emerged where the technology has been used to remove clothing from women to make them appear in bikinis without permission, as well as to place them in inappropriate contexts.
Developer Response and Regulatory Stance
XAI, the organization that created Grok, remained silent to questions, other than an automatically-generated response stating "traditional news outlets lies".
A government representative stated that new laws is being proposed to prohibit nudification software. Under a proposed law, anyone who provided such technology would "receive a prison sentence and substantial penalties".
"The platform has the ability to stop these forms of misuse if they desired to," said a law professor, adding they "appear to enjoy impunity."
Regulator Stance and Tool Functionality
The communications watchdog Ofcom said platforms must "evaluate the potential" of people viewing unlawful material on their networks, but stopped short of confirming whether it was presently examining X or Grok in relation to AI-generated images.
Grok is a no-cost AI assistant—with some paid-for features—which responds to X users' queries when they tag it in a tweet.
It is often used to provide reactions or more context to other users' comments, but people on X are also able to edit an uploaded photo through its artificial intelligence picture modification feature.
Background of Criticism and Rules
The chatbot has been faulted for enabling users to generate pictures and footage with explicit content and sexualised content, and it was in the past accused of making inappropriate content of public figures.
"The platform has been permitting the creation and spread of these images for a long time without taking any action and we have yet to see any intervention by regulators," the expert added.
XAI's own terms of service prohibits "depicting likenesses of persons in a pornographic manner".
In a comment, Ofcom said it was illegal to "create or distribute non-consensual intimate images or illegal content" and confirmed this applied to explicit AI images made with AI.
It said platforms such as X were obligated to take "necessary measures" to "lessen the danger" of users viewing unlawful material on their services and to delete it quickly when they learn of it.
